Wednesday, December 05, 2012

Saxifraga moschata

Saxifraga moschata.

Saxifraga is a large genus of about 440 species of mostly small hardy plants that form dwarf cushions with their dense tiny-leaf rosettes. They typically occur in the Arctic-alpine ecosystems of the Northern Hemisphere, usually growing on rocky soil and crevices at high altitudes, somewhat like a kind of "arctic cacti". The Latin name saxifraga means 'stone-breaking', actually referring to their medicinal use in treating kidney stones (especially in Ayurvedic Medicine).

Saxifraga moschata, also known as S. exarata ssp. moschata, is the plant that grows on the highest mountain peak of Greece. Native to most of Europe, she is found growing in shaded rock crevices. The small fresh green, three-lobed leaves are fan shaped, forming dense cushions of leaf rosettes (they say they have a distinctive sweet smell, hense the latinized Greek name "moschata"), while the flowers are greenish-yellow.
__________________________________________________________________

No comments:

Post a Comment

11.11.2011 to 12.12.2012a one year plant + art showcasea one year study of the familiar

A look at the realm of plants, in and around Thessaloniki, plants that we all must have seen somewhere, and passed by hurriedly without paying any close attention...if we asked them their names, we could greet them when we meet them again on our way...__________________